Highly selective demethylation of anisole to phenol over H 4 Nb 2 O 7 modified MoS 2 catalyst

• Published in: Catalysis science & technology Vol. 11; no. 3; pp. 800 - 809
• Main Authors: Ji, Na, Wang, Zhenjiao, Diao, Xinyong, Jia, Zhichao, Li, Tingting, Zhao, Yujun, Liu, Qingling, Lu, Xuebin, Ma, Degang, Song, Chunfeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 15.02.2021
• ISSN: 2044-4753; 2044-4761
• DOI: 10.1039/D0CY01972K

Hydrogenolysis of lignin to obtain value-added phenolic chemicals is an important approach for its comprehensive utilization. Herein, H 4 Nb 2 O 7 modified MoS 2 catalyst with short slabs and narrow stacking degree was successfully synthesized by the one step hydrothermal method and used in the selective demethylation of anisole to phenol. The MoS 2 –H 4 Nb 2 O 7 -160 catalyst exhibited the best activity with 97.7% conversion of anisole and 98.0% selectivity of phenol under 3 MPa H 2 pressure at 270 °C for 4 h, which has been rarely reported on anisole transformation over heterogeneous catalysts so far. The characterizations results demonstrated that the H 4 Nb 2 O 7 modification reduced the slab length and stacking degree of MoS 2 during the hydrothermal process and enhanced the acidity property therefore improved the cleavage ability of C Ar O–CH 3 bond. This study provides a new scheme for the activity enhancement of MoS 2 in lignin demethylation, laying a foundation on the improvement of lignin utilization and the development of renewable energy strategy.